by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- The only good thing about Danica Patrick's Friday at Watkins Glen International is it's over.

Patrick had a very bad day at The Glen. She had to change an engine after the day's first practice â?? meaning she'll start at the rear of the field for Sunday's race â?? and then crashed head-first into a tire barrier after suffering a blown tire at the end of the second session.

"It has been a record horrible day, I'm pretty sure," she said with a chuckle after being released from the infield care center. "So why not stack it on?"

With just two minutes remaining in practice, Patrick â?? who was 36th-fastest â?? was informed by Matt Kenseth that smoke was coming from her car. It turned out the left front shock failed, which caused the tire to rub and then blow out. Her Stewart-Haas Racing team will use a backup car.

"To me it almost looks like the shock broke," crew chief Tony Gibson said. "She went into (Turn) 1 and she said it moved more than it normally did and then Kenseth said it started tire smoking and as soon as he said that she hit. ... It looks like it just compressed all down and done."

Patrick said she tried to downshift and hit the tire barrier with the side of her car, but it went in head-first instead. She hit her hand on the wheel, but it was a slow enough crash to not cause any serious injury.

"I'm hoping I'm using up all the bad luck and mistakes in one day so I can get it out of the system before we go to the next one," she said.

On the bright side?

"After the engine change this morning, we were starting in the back anyway," she said. "(Also) I'd say if you're gonna have to start at the back of a track, the strategies are all over the place on road courses and it just might push us into something that works."

Because qualifying doesn't matter now, Gibson said the team will use Saturday morning's qualifying session as an extra practice and run as many laps as possible to work on the car.